My Love

Goofy Caleb

Spunky Hannah

Baby Joshua

Our Rainbow Baby, Luke

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Baby Joshua:
~now weighs 4lbs 2oz and he seems to have a full head of hair which can be seen on the ultrasound as fuzz around his head! :o)
~is right on track for both height and weight (as best as can be seen on an ultrasound)
~is currently breech, but still has his feet clear up by his head- he has approximately 5-6 weeks to get his little bottom in the air and turn around
~still has a very "classic" case of HLHS. No other complications seem to be present, although we won't be 100% sure until after he is born

St. Vincent's Women's Hospital/NICU:
~is amazing. Everyone we met was exceptionally helpful and nice. They seem to truly have the patient's best interest at heart.
~seems to be (from my non experienced, non medical point of view) on the cutting edge with their care, technology, and staff. We were beyond impressed with the facilities and technology that is available to us.
~we are 100% sure that this is where we need to be at this point. We are 100% confident in the surgeons, doctors, and neos.
~the only negative is that there is no rooming in with Joshua while he is in the NICU. We qualify for 3 free nights at the Martin House (hospital hotel) but then housing is up to us for the other nights. Bummer. But, God has already worked that out and has provided for us.

Peyton Manning's Children's Hospital/PICU:
~once again....wow.....such a great building. We could not feel any more confident in the care that Joshua will receive.
~they offer sleep rooms and showers for parents of PICU children. One parent is allowed to stay bedside 24 hours a day which is great.
~the surgery will be taking place here and so will the critical recovery period
~they provide help with preparing siblings to see/experience their baby brother. This will be great for Caleb- we won't allow him to see Joshua while on ECMO or with his chest open, but after the swelling and everything has gone down, we want to encourage him to see Joshua.

Me:
~I'm doing alright with all of this. I feel like my joy has come back, and that my love for this tiny child inside me is deeper than any love I have ever known.
~I've had a few moments today of begging God to take this from us- from Joshua, but that small voice whispers "this will be managable, I am with you." Then that overwhelming and indescribable sense of peace takes over.
~That peace has brought confidence. Confidence in the doctors, confidence in myself as a mother and Shane as a father, Confidence that Joshua is a fighter already- not supposed to have made it past 18 weeks. Confidence in God's plan for our life no matter what that looks like. ~I am full of hope. Hope in Christ, hope that Joshua will do well. Hope that everything will be alright, hope for the future. I am finding freedom in that Hope.
~I find myself thinking about the past. Never imagining that something like this would happen to our family, our child. Never even beginning to think that our baby would be chosen to have a special heart. Never imagining that our family would have to walk down this road. I feel The Spirit working and moving in ways that I have never felt before. I feel like there is something big ahead of us. Something amazing right around the cornerfor our family. My prayer is that God would work in amazing ways not only in our lives, but in the lives of those around us.

Thank you all so much for your love, prayers, and support. I truly believe that it is because of you guys that Shane and I are at such peace about things. It is because of your love, prayers, and support that Shane and I are going strong, loving each other, loving our children, and most importantly loving our God.

I'll continue to keep you all updated! We should have an official induction date hopefully by the end of this week which will then allow us to get down to the nitty gritty of our planning. Once we have that date, (God willing nothing else happens) the pieces will hopefully start falling into place. Continue to check back for more information!

5 comments:

Praise God! I don't know what else to say. For some reason this post made me tear up. Maybe it's just how wonderful our Father is and how you can see and feel Him working through all this. Our God is amazing!

I'm so happy to hear that you are comfortable and confident with your hospital and surgeon. That makes all the difference in the world, doesn't it? We will be praying for Joshua and your family. My daughter was diagnosed with a "classic" case of HLHS too and she is doing wonderful. Heart hugs,Jenny (mom to Aly- HLHS)http://jennyandjeremylincolnb.blogspot.com